Suna's Ninja (Gaara Love Story)

41: New Residency

"Akimi, can you help me? I need to organize these boxes and I don't know what's in them!" Armin said, looking pleadingly at Akimi. The crates that stored all of their supplies throughout the years, had been set aside had gotten mixed up all together due to confusion.

Most of the crates were nailed down and would require a pick to remove the nails securing the lid down to figure out what was inside the crate. A handful of crates had words, but not everyone could read and re-nailing the boxes would take days. During the Titan War, only the soldiers were given an education, but even that was limited. The Military Police spent their days drinking and gambling, while the Survey Corps struggled to read in candlelight. The Garrison were no different from the Military Police, except they did help the civilians. 

"Of course." Akimi scanned the boxes and was able to feel the contents in each one. Fabrics, weaponry, spices, animal pelts, dry food, wood scrape parts, wooden tent pegs, medicine, thread nets, fishing gear, books, paper, ink, and much more.

"So tell me what's going on with everyone right now, that box has books," Akimi said eagerly, alternating between working and talking.

"I'm the camp's teacher for the children. Mikasa is training some of the kids how to fight and when she isn't teaching, she's with Connie and Sasha to scout ahead before we travel further. Captain Levi is the new leader of our group and orders us around...not too different from home. Eren and Hanji are the doctors as you already know. Let's see...oh! Connie, Sasha, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie are the ingredient collectors, ranging from spices to hunting. And finally, Marco and Jean make tools and basically run a blacksmith shop. Everyone else in camp divide other work among themselves and all together, I think we have like two hundred people, not counting all the new kids."

"...wow. Sounds like you're becoming a mini-country," Akimi said slowly. "Ah, should we label these?"

"You better," Doctor Eren suggested, strolling up to them. "Hanji's got all the other patients, so I'm free."

"Can you help then?" Armin asked, shoving a box at the doctor.

"Sure. Aki, take a break. We'll label the ones we have right now."

"Okay then. Give me thirty minutes." The two ex-soldiers along with several other campers began labeling the crates using a piece of charcoal wrapped in a rag. Akimi rubbed her stomach absentmindedly before returning back to work.

Once all the boxes had been sorted and labeled, Sasha came over to announce dinner was ready.

"Good work, everyone!" Hanji called out to the surrounding campers.

"Good work!"

Akimi sat with the ex-soldiers in a little huddle and after talking for awhile, the topic veered off into Akimi's previous lifestyle.

"Oh the usual," she started, stirring her potato noodle soup. "I sleep with my husband who is a snuggle bug and work with hospital deliveries and medical issues. We have a good round of patients everyday, varying form broken bones, injured ninjas, the common sicknesses and virus, surgery preparing and cleaning, delivering babies, and medicine prescriptions. Our medicine counter is on the first floor of our hospital, you know. In the afternoon, I write to my sister, family, relatives, and the like. I usually make dinner for Gaara and his siblings and if I'm not super busy, I can make afternoon tea for him as well.

"I don't get to see Gaara very often unless he comes by the hospital because, you know, Kazekage and all that work. On weekends, we have time to ourselves so we usually go to the beach or have an at-home date. The twins are more active and cramps are much worse, so we often stay home together."

"Love!" Hanji cheered, waving her spoon widely, flicking bits of soup at everyone else. Captain Levi grabbed the nearest person to shield himself, and Eren found himself facing the soup "bullets."

"...ew."

Thanks, Jean.